With the growth of the consumer and industrial electronics industry and the simultaneous decline of the military market in the 1990's, rapid changes have occurred in the electronics industry. As a result, the U.S. electronics market began operating much like the Japanese consumer electronics market with higher pressures to reduce costs and shrink packaging size.
The rapidly growing portable electronics markets, e.g. cellular phones, laptop computers, and PDAs, are integral facets of modern life and each are operated by an integrated circuit (“I.C.”) with strict packaging demands. These devices have unique attributes which have significant impacts on manufacturing integration, in that they must be generally small, light weight, and rich in functionality and they must be produced in high volumes at relatively low cost. Future electronic systems may be more intelligent, have higher density, use less power, operate at higher speed, and may include mixed technology devices and assembly structures at lower cost than today.
To meet such demands, manufacturers have begun integrating more circuit functions, shrinking device features, and increasing speeds. As an extension of the I.C. industry, the electronics packaging industry has also witnessed similar technological and market dynamics. I.C.'s are typically protected from the external environment by transfer molding a thermoset or thermoplastic resin about the device. This package provides protection from dust, humidity and other environmental factors which can destroy the delicate circuitry.
From a packaging perspective, smaller form factors, requirements for more input/output signals and power management all became major technology drivers. Sophisticated new products of all types began developing, and soon barriers were reached with conventional packages and processes. No clear cost effective technology has yet been identified. Beyond the performance requirements of next generation devices, the industry now demands that cost be a primary product differentiator in an attempt to meet profit goals.
There have been many approaches to addressing the advanced packaging requirements of microprocessors and portable electronics with successive generations of I.C.'s. Many industry road maps have identified significant gaps between the present integrated circuit capability and the available supporting electronic packaging technologies. The limitations and issues with present packaging technologies include increasing clock rates, electromagnetic interference (EMI), thermal loads, second level assembly reliability stresses and cost.
EMI in particular is a problem. This form of radiation can be created by complex present loops on the printed circuit board (PCB) or it can come from external sources like cell phones and radio towers. EMI can interfere with the functionality and reliability of some I.C.'s and has little effect on others. Many approaches have been developed to shield components from EMI. These approaches include inherent package shielding and bulky metalized enclosures. These approaches are costly in process time, design time, raw materials, space, and line yield. Market pressure and EMI disruption combine to create a need for a versatile and cost effective solution. As the commercial pressures continue to drive a wedge between custom packaging solutions and cost, an ever-greater need is created to find a solution to this problem.
Thus, a need still remains for low cost and versatility. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures, adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.